Sick and Tired
by nereidaia
Summary: Neji and Sakura are both birds in their own cages. Will they become friends and be able to help each other? [NejiSaku SongFic]


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters mentioned, nor do I own "Sick and Tired" by Anastacia.

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First, I want to thank everyone at the LJ-NejiSaku-community for their great support, you guys are great!This story takes place approximately 2 years after the events in the Manga making Neji and Sakura 14-15. Lyrics are in _italics_. 

Please leave me a review!

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* * *

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**Sick and Tired **

_My love is on the line _

A lone figure was walking aimlessly in the outskirt forests of Konoha. The light summer breeze blew pink strands into her face restricting her sight. But she was not paying attention to her surroundings anyway for she was lost in her thoughts.

Once again Sakura's mind was occupied with Sasuke.

The Uchiha heir had finally lost against the combined forces of Naruto and the Kyuubi. Even the cursed seal could not bring him victory. He was still unconscious when Kakashi brought him and Naruto back to Konoha. Tsunade and Jiraiya had bound the power of the cursed seal with their own seals until they finally found a way to remove it permanently.

With the seal gone Sasuke no longer had a reason to seek out Orochimaru. Instead, he became obsessed with finding other ways to gain strength. He buried himself in studying scrolls and learning new techniques, trained day and night to increase his stamina and perfect his control of the Sharingan.

In doing so he became more and more distant to his old comrades. They still had missions together as Team 7, but Sasuke hardly ever talked to them. He remained silent even when Sakura was annoying on purpose hoping to get a reaction out of him.

They became worried when he never dropped a remark about Sakura or Naruto and ignored them completely. He kept focused on the missions, but otherwise withdrew from everybody. The sole purpose of his life was revenge.

He never mentioned the events of the night he left. That was what hurt Sakura the most. It was as if she had never declared her love to him.

Her hurt feelings were the reason why she was walking in the forest now. She had to get away from the busy village where she never seemed to get a quiet minute for herself. And she desperately needed time to think and come to a truce with her rampaging inner self.

After walking for over an hour avoiding branches and holes only because of her Shinobi reflexes Sakura had entered a part of the forest few people ever visited.

The undergrowth was thick and the space between the trees was narrow. Although it was a bright day, twilight reigned under the treetops.

Therefore, Sakura was momentarily blinded when she reached a sun-flooded clearing. Forced out of her absent-mindedness she raised a hand against the offending light, blinking to adjust her eyes to the brightness.

With delay her Shinobi senses kicked into overdrive alarming her of a presence in the clearing. It seemed vaguely familiar.

Remembering the fact that she was alone and with only two kunai as weapons against a possible attacker, Sakura retreated back into the shadows before approaching the edge of the clearing again from behind a large tree. Cautiously, she scanned the open area.

A moment later, she spotted a figure sitting under the shade of another tree. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise, she would have never expected to come across this person so far away from the village. But here he was.

Sitting in the clearing cross-legged and eyes closed was none other than Hyuga Neji.

Unsure about what to do Sakura slowly approached him, but stopped a few feet away and scrutinized him. Had it been anyone else she would have considered him fast asleep as he showed no signs of acknowledgement of her presence. But she was sure he had sensed her long before she arrived.

The silence lasted for what seemed to be an eternity while Sakura tried to decide whether to talk to him or leave him alone. In the end, it was Neji who spoke first.

"What do you want, Haruno?"

Upon hearing his rather bored sounding voice, Sakura flinched slightly.

"Uh, nothing, Neji-san. I was just taking a walk. I didn't notice where I was going until I sensed someone nearby. Sorry, if I disturbed you. Were you meditating? This place seems to be ideal for meditation. It's very quiet and peaceful. I guess hardly anybody ever comes here..." Sakura trailed off realizing that she had come across him disturbing the peace and silence. For Neji was starting to show signs of annoyance.

"Are you done?" He opened his eyes and scowled at her. The stare of his silver eyes was quite unsettling for Sakura.

"Eh, yes... Sorry." She flashed him an unsteady smile, but Neji ignored her. Closing his eyes to resume his meditation, he obviously dismissed her.

Sakura however remained rooted to the spot. She did not know what came over her, but in a sudden show of courage, she approached him again.

"Would you mind if I join you?"

If he was surprised by her unexpected request, he did not show it.

"Suit yourself."

Before she could think twice about her bluntness, Sakura sat down beside Neji. Imitating him, she crossed her legs and tried to find a comfortable sitting position. Once she was ready, she closed her eyes as well.

The unpredicted turn of events seemed to have caught her inner self by surprise for she remained quiet. Thus enabling Sakura to let herself be lulled by the soft sounds of the surrounding forest. Moments later, Sakura was fast asleep.

* * *

His unfailing inner sense of time told Neji that it was about half an hour from sunset. Unhurriedly, he started to retract his roaming senses, to shut himself against the sensual onslaught of nature once again. For a moment, he let them linger on the person beside him.

He was a bit surprised that she had actually stayed all the time which happened to be close to one hour. Figuring that she would grow bored after a short while and eventually leave, he had obviously been wrong. Instead, she had fallen asleep some time ago. His sharpened senses had registered her unconscious state once her breathing evened out. While sleep was a possible outcome of a meditation, he was astounded that she would relax to this extent in his company.

He withdrew from her completely and finished his chakra-induced meditation.

Five minutes later, Neji opened his eyes and shifted into a different sitting position bringing one knee up to rest his arm on it. From the corner of his eye he observed Sakura for signs of awakening caused by his movement. She remained unfathomed and deep asleep.

Contemplating on what to do next, Neji watched the sunset. He could just stand up and return home, leaving the girl behind. He doubted that anything would happen to her if he did, but it was plain obvious that she had no idea in which part of Konoha forest she was. Even he had too much consciousness than to abandon her in the unknown like that.

Coming to a decision when the now orange-red ball of the sun was barely kissing the horizon, Neji sighed and stood up.

Shaking his clothes from some loose grass strains, he turned to Sakura and nudged her shoulder none too gently.

Being jerked out of her peaceful slumber, Sakura dazedly looked up into Neji's face. It took her a moment to remember where she was and what she had been doing.

She blushed slightly when she realized that she had fallen asleep during the meditation. The low position of the sun showed her that quite some time had passed.

Although she had been awoken rather suddenly, she felt oddly at peace. As if her inner self would still be asleep. She had not felt that good in a long time.

A rustling of leaves made her snap out of her reverie. Realizing that Neji was about to leave, she called out to him.

"Neji-san, wait, please!"

Coming to a halt on a low branch, Neji turned his head an inch in her direction indicating that he was listening.

"I want to thank you...for letting me stay."

"Hn." Looking ahead again, he spoke to no one in particular. "The village is in this direction." And without looking back, he disappeared.

Sakura stared at the spot he had previously occupied and muttered another low "Thank you".

When she set into the direction of her home, it dawned on her that she would not found her way back home so easily if Neji had not told her.

Throwing one last glance over her shoulder, she decided to memorize the path to the clearing. Maybe she would come back some time.

* * *

_My love is on the line _

A few days later, Sakura stood at the great entrance gate of Konoha watching Sasuke's back again. Kakashi-sensei had disappeared once they entered the village, dismissing them for the day. Naruto was spread out unconscious on the street.

In a way, the events leading to this situation were nothing out of the ordinary. Like so many times before, Sakura had, exhausted happy about accomplishing a mission, asked Sasuke to go eat something with her. Although she did not even mention the word _date_, he had declined with the usual cold "No" which always made her crestfallen.

Naruto had piped in with his usual attempt to get her to go out with him instead. This time, Sakura had actually been tempted to accept his invitation since she was half-starved. But before she could say a word, Sasuke had called them both annoying. This caused her inner self to wail and Naruto to call him a "cold-hearted bastard" which in return made Inner Sakura take over and knock Naruto out cold.

Really, this scene had displayed countless times which made it kind of normal. And that was what disturbed Sakura greatly.

Standing at the gate, she mused about how things got so much out of control. Her inner self was so much focused solely on Sasuke that she treated Naruto unfair when he just tried to defend her.

Sakura's mind was deeply confused since her two personalities were internally fighting for superiority. Unbeknownst, her unconscious desire for peace led her feet on a certain path into the forest.

Halfway to the clearing, she came back to her senses. Remembering the content calmness she had felt after her meditation, Sakura decided to seek out the clearing for a second time.

As she had half expected since it was late afternoon, Neji sat on the same spot as last time. Sakura did not want to interrupt his meditation again, so she approached him quietly and plopped down next to him without saying a word. Taking some deep breaths, she mentally steeled herself for the confrontation with her inner self that would inevitably happen once she started her meditation session.

But without Sasuke nearby to trigger an overreaction from her inner self, their argument stayed on a rather civilized level. Inner Sakura defended Sasuke's behaviour for all she was worth, condemning Naruto in the same breath, while 'Outer' Sakura objected to her rantings.

Finally, the tranquillity of her surroundings soothed her to a point when she fell asleep. And again she was awakened by Neji at sunset. This time though, no words were exchanged between the two of them. They just went on their separate ways.

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* * *

_

_My love is on the line _

The following weeks, Sakura occasionally went to the clearing. Sometimes, she would spend her time there on her own since Neji was absent, but most of the time they were meditating together, hardly ever speaking a word. In the end, these evening sessions became a habit. Sakura went to the clearing as often as she could manage, Neji apparently not minding her company since they did not talk much.

She learned from his example. Instead of simply falling asleep, Sakura became more and more capable to open her senses to her surroundings, not as much as Neji with his Byakugan, but her excellent Chakra control was a great help.

In time, she also learned to decipher the subtle messages of his body language since his voice and face hardly ever gave away his emotions. Finally, every change in his posture, every twitch of certain muscles conveyed his mood to her. Sakura might have been the only person in Konoha who was able to read him so openly. Thus it was no wonder she noticed that he was in pain on some days.

Though she tried, she was unable to detect its origin since Neji did not bear any visible wounds. Of course, he would not admit any pain on his own accord and she did not dare ask him about it in fear to severe their still fragile bond.

When his posture was more rigid than normal once again indicating that it was one of _these_ days, Sakura could not stand it any more. Neji was a fellow Shinobi of the leaf, more importantly they had shared each others, albeit silent, company for weeks without him offending her, thus making them friends in Sakura's opinion. Friends took care of each other.

But she was still hesitant. How does one approach Hyuga Neji in such a matter without him brushing it aside?

Her fidgeting in nervousness did not go unnoticed. Since he was already quite aggravated, Neji's patience was wearing rather thin today.

"Stop this!"

"Sorry." Upon his angry command, Sakura forced herself to still her movements. But since he had been the first to speak, she refused to let him get away with it now.

"I really don't want to annoy you, but you're not yourself today. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. What gives you the idea I'm not myself?"

"First of all, you're not as composed as usual. Your anger towards me just now is proof enough since I didn't to anything to you." Knowing that Neji was not one to deny the truth when he was faced with it Sakura decided to be blunt. "And I can see that you're obviously in pain. So what's wrong? Maybe I can help you."

"Nobody can help me." Neji muttered so quietly that Sakura was not even sure she understood him correctly. Speaking up, he claimed to simply suffer from a headache. Sakura did not believe that this was all that plagued him, but she was willing to let it slip for now.

"You know, I could ease that headache for you. I've read about a healing Jutsu in a scroll some time ago. Though, I didn't have the opportunity to practice it yet."

Neji looked at her incredulously.

"You want me to be your guinea pig?!? Go try it with Naruto."

Sakura huffed indignantly.

"Naruto isn't a guinea pig either! Quit being a baby and give it a try."

"Sure as hell I won't let you try to treat my brain with a technique you never practiced before!"

"It's really easy! It works more like a Chakra-supported massage. I swear I'll stop when I notice something's wrong. Damn Neji, you _know_ my Chakra control is excellent!"

Not willing to answer her immediately, Neji pondered her words. He had to admit that she most likely had even better Chakra control than he himself. But still...

"Why do you even bother to learn such a Jutsu?"

"Ah, well... you know, I thought it might come in handy to treat my team-mates after a fight. Along with other healing Jutsu."

"Hn." The nasty pain behind his temples was irritating him a great deal. "Fine. But be careful, I'll stop you as soon as I get the feeling it's not working as it should."

Upon his positive answer, Sakura beamed at him.

"Great. Take off your headband, please. The healing requires skin contact with your temples."

Neji frowned at her, but complied nevertheless. He did not particularly like to take off his headband for it meant to reveal his forehead seal. But she probably already knew much about it since he had shown it to Naruto in the Chunin exam finals.

Once the headband was off, Sakura got a good idea where his migraine originated from. But she kept her suspicion to herself and moved to kneel behind him.

"Don't move now!"

She concentrated her Chakra in her hands and did a few quick hand-seals. Then she held her palms on either side of his head touching his temples with the tips of her index and middle fingers. Using her recently acquired ability to expand her senses, she directed precise Chakra strands into the nervous system. Her Jutsu showed her exactly which synapses she had to block to prevent them from transmitting pain signals. Then she used more Chakra to stimulate the glands to release pain-killing hormones. After she had accomplished her task, she carefully withdrew her Chakra from his head.

Once done, Sakura collapsed against his back from complete exhaustion. Neji reached behind himself to support her with one arm, but otherwise did not move. Then he realized that his migraine was indeed gone.

"You're quite skilled with your Chakra healing. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

With much effort, Sakura shifted until she sat back to back with Neji and rested her head on his shoulder.

The Hyuga folded his hands in his laps again and stared ahead pondering the abilities Sakura had shown. Her advanced knowledge in the theories of Jutsu combined with her natural talent in Chakra control made her capable healer. Additionally, she surpassed other Shinobi in intelligence and Genjutsu. Contrary to what others seemed to believe she could make it well into the rank of a Jounin with more practice and field experience.

Apparently, Team 7 consisted of more capable members than the Uchiha with his bloodline limits and Naruto with his stamina and Kage Bunshin. Speaking of her team...

"Sakura, why are you coming to this place?"

At first, he thought she had fallen asleep due to exhaustion when she did not answer him immediately. But as he was about to call her again, she lifted her head from his shoulder to look at her hands which were fiddling with the hem of her red dress.

"You know... it's peaceful here."

When he remained silent, she tried to explain her reason further.

"When I'm meditating here... with you, I'm able to relax for some time. This place is like an enclave detached from the rest of the world. It's kind of my sanctuary. Do you understand what I mean?"

"You need a place away from your family and friends."

"Yeah..."

They sat in a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts. At sunset they said their goodbyes and left for their homes.

* * *

_My love is on the line _

For the following week an extended mission kept Sakura from going to her proclaimed sanctuary. When her team finally returned to Konoha, the village was thrown in turmoil by an attempted abduction of Hyuga Hinata in the morning. The culprits had been two Missing-nins, rumours said they were possibly members of Akatsuki.

Kakashi was immediately summoned by the Hokage and disappeared with Sasuke in tow, the latter hoping to gain information on the whereabouts of his brother. Being left behind, Sakura decided to see how Hinata was faring and dragged Naruto along.

At Hyuga estate they were thoroughly checked until a guard finally led them to Hinata's rooms. When they entered they were greeted not only by the Hyuga heiress but also by the rest of her team and the other two Genin teams minus their teachers. The only one missing beside Sasuke was Neji.

The pale but otherwise unharmed Hinata was blushing furiously upon Naruto's question about her well-being. As always, she could not form a straight sentence in the blonde's presence, so Kiba gave them a short summary of the day's events instead.

As it turned out, Hinata had been attacked by two Missing-nins who deemed her alone on a training field. They had failed to notice Neji who had been guarding her in secret. He fought both enemies on his own until the released amount of Chakra brought other leaf Jounin on to the scene. One attacker had been killed during the fight, the other was captured and currently interrogated by Ibiki.

While the other Genin vividly discussed the Missing-nins intentions and the possibility of them being Akatsuki members, Sakura approached Hinata.

"How is Neji? Is he hurt?"

"Neji-nii-san g..got injured during ...the fight, Sakura-san, but h..he refused to let s..someone treat him until he reported to H..Hokage-sama."

"And where is he now?"

"I...I don't know, nobody h..has seen him s..since then."

"Ah." Sakura had a pretty good idea where he had disappeared to. She quickly excused herself and left the Hyuga estate.

_

* * *

_

"I thought you'd be here."

"What do you want? Leave me alone."

As Sakura had expected, Neji sat under the same tree in the clearing as always. From the looks of it, he did not get away from the fight anywhere near as unscathed as Hinata. His clothes were torn on several places, his usually white bandages were dirty and blood-stained. Blood trickled from both a wound on his right eyebrow and his burst bottom lip.

Sakura ignored his open hostility and sat down next to his feet facing him. For a while neither spoke a word.

"You should let someone treat your injuries."

Neji just grunted in response. Sakura carefully scrutinized him. On closer observation his wounds seemed to be superficial, they should not bother him much, but still his whole posture was tense and spoke of pain.

"Does your head hurt again?"

Neji saw no point in denying the obvious, so he nodded. When Sakura moved to sit behind him again, he removed his headband without waiting for her request and she performed her healing Jutsu.

Just like the last time, Sakura was utterly drained afterwards, but she refused to let her body rest for too long. She felt that now was the best opportunity to get Neji to talk to her. After a few minutes of rest, she crawled back in front of him. He did not seem to notice her for he was staring off in the distance, completely lost in his thoughts. For a moment, he reminded her of Sasuke, but then she realized that they were quite different. Neji really cared for his friends and so did she.

Pushing every hesitation aside, Sakura gently put a hand on his arm to draw his attention.

"Neji." Slowly, his silver eyes shifted and focused on her again.

"Your migraine is caused by the seal, isn't it?"

He looked at her for a long time without answering. Sakura began to think that she had gone too far. If her suspicions were correct, this might be a too personal question. But when she averted her eyes and removed her hand from his arm, Neji caught her hand with his. Surprised she looked back up at him. Neji held her gaze with a serious expression.

"It's a side effect of the seal. Especially when it's been activated. Hiashi had to get his point across that I was responsible that Hinata-sama was endangered in the first place."

Though he tried to keep his voice even, Sakura detected the faint trace of bitterness as he spoke.

"Was it the same with the other times?"

"Sometimes, but due to the seal I'm more prone to headaches in general."

"Oh..." Although she had suspected something like that, Sakura was at a loss of words.

Silence fell upon them. Sakura pondered what he had revealed to her when a thought struck her.

"You didn't use the honorific when you referred to Hyuga Hiashi."

"I only use it when I address him or on official occasions."

"But you still said 'Hinata-sama'."

"True."

"Why? I thought you hate her."

"I don't hate her. She's the Hyuga heiress, but I think she doesn't have it in her to be a Shinobi as well."

"Yeah, you already said that when you fought her in the Chunin exam."

"My opinion hasn't changed much since then. She still lacks the personality and self-confidence to be a warrior. I can read her body language, remember?"

"But she could improve her abilities if she gains some self-confidence!"

"Hn."

Feeling that he did not want to pursue the matter further at the moment, Sakura decided to change the topic, though she would keep their conversation in mind.

"Come on, it's already late. Let's get your injuries attended." With that, Sakura stood up and pulled him with her by their still connected hands.

Together, they left the clearing.

* * *

_My love is on the line _

Due to her recently accomplished mission, Sakura had been given a day off by her Sensei. So, the next day, she decided to go to the clearing earlier than usual and wait for Neji. She lay flat on her back in the grass, arms and legs outstretched and staring up into the sky when she finally sensed him approach.

A moment later, he was already standing next to her. Blinking up at him, she noticed that he decidedly looked better than yesterday. When he made no move and just kept staring down at her, she got irritated and sat up.

"Had I been an enemy, you'd be dead by now." Gracefully, Neji sat down while Sakura merely snorted in response.

"Yeah, but you did nothing to conceal your chakra, so I identified you when you were still some distance away."

"Hn."

"I'm not stupid, Neji. I've learned to stay on guard especially when I'm alone somewhere."

She had barely enough time to react and lean backwards when Neji thrust a kunai at her. Rolling away from him, she did not get the chance to stand up as he was already on top of her pinning her to the ground with his body. Relaxing her body to signal her defeat, she pouted up at him.

"No fair, you surprised me!"

Smirking down at her, Neji put his kunai back into his holster.

"Didn't you tell me you were always on guard?"

"Argh, you're impossible! Get off me!"

Sliding off of her, he sat back down on the ground allowing her to sit up as well.

"You need more training. You can't ever let your guard slip. As a Shinobi you have to be able to defend yourself against someone like me."

Sakura stared at him incredulously.

"Is that an offer to train me?"

"Maybe."

His offer surprised her, but Sakura could see that it would be to her advantage since both Sasuke and Naruto received special training.

"I'd really like that, Neji, but..." Sakura trailed off, unsure how to ask him about something that bothered her since their conversation the day before.

"What?"

"You know... I've been thinking about what you said yesterday and since you offered to train me... Maybe you could train both Hinata and me?"

Seeing him scowling, Sakura hurriedly explained her suggestion.

"Hinata has already improved over the last years, but like you said, she still lacks self-confidence. I don't ask you to become her best friend, but if you tutor her it would really help her." Sakura reached out with her hand to push up his headband and gently trace the lines of his forehead seal.

"Do you still believe that you can't change your fate?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because in a way, we're quite similar; we're both birds in a cage. The only difference is that I've built my cage entirely by myself. Until I started to get to know you, I wasn't even really aware of it. But now, I've seen that there is something outside of it. You gave me the will to try and break out of my cage. For that I'm grateful. And I want to do something for you in return." Sakura lowered her hand again and looked back into his eyes. Neji made no move to interrupt her, he just stared at her intently.

"Even if you don't believe you can change your fate, I do. I think that when Hinata becomes a strong leader of the Hyuga, together you can find a way to remove the cursed seal and change the clan. You can give her that strength by training her. And you won't have to wait for Naruto to become Hokage and change the clan for you." Remembering Naruto saying this to Neji after defeating him, they both had to chuckle lightly about the enthusiasm of the hyperactive blonde.

"Please, promise me that you'll at least think about it."

For a long time, Neji did not answer her. Finally, he stood up and looked down at her.

"I'll think about it." With that, Neji turned around and left.

* * *

_My love is on the line _

Several simple missions prevented Sakura from meeting Neji for a couple of days, so she had yet to get an answer from him.

Then one day, she spotted his familiar figure when she left the Ichiraku after eating lunch with Naruto. Quickly saying goodbye to her team mate, she approached Neji who motioned her to follow him.

He led her out of the village into the forest. Finally, he stopped and turned around with his arms crossed and wearing a serious expression. Sakura looked at him expectantly.

"I'll train both you and Hinata-sama." Immediately, Sakura was grinning like mad, but her cheering was cut short when he continued.

"But there is a condition."

"What condition?"

"Your 'cage' is this ridiculous obsession with the Uchiha, isn't it?"

"Uh, ye..yeah..."

"It's no use if I try to train you and you still waste your time on him. You'll just be distracted. He's not interested, so get over him. You said you wanted to break free from your cage, so you're going to face him now."

"What?!?" Neji ignored her shocked outburst. Instead, he grasped her hand and pulled her with him. Activating his Byakugan, he scanned the forest for traces of the Uchiha. Deciding that he was most likely at one of the training spots at this time of the day, Neji headed towards the nearest one. Sakura was too stunned by his unexpected demand to protest at first.

Arriving at his destination, Neji almost immediately sensed Sasuke's chakra in a clearing. Stopping some distance away, he looked at Sakura.

"Are you ready?"

Their sudden stop shook Sakura out of her stupor. Now she stared at him wide-eyed.

"N..No, of course not! Are you insane? I can't do this now! I need more time to prepare myself!"

"Then you'd never do it."

"You don't know that!"

"I know you, Sakura, probably as good as you know me by now."

"Shit, how can you do this to me, Neji?"

"I want to help you."

"Great, then I'd rather not."

"Sakura, either you do this now or you can forget about our deal."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

Their bickering was interrupted by a dark voice from above them.

"Are you done? I'd like to train without being disturbed by your screaming."

Sakura was startled and stared up at the newcomer standing on a branch. Neji on the other hand, had already sensed the Uchiha approaching, so he did not even bother to look up. Instead, he told Sakura that he would wait nearby and left towards the clearing Sasuke had come from.

Sakura stared at his back with a mixture of annoyance and despair, before she gave into the inevitable.

"Uh, Sasuke-kun, could you please come down here? I need to talk to you."

Contemplating for a moment to brush her off, Sasuke decided to humour her request and jumped to the ground, still keeping his distance to her.

Observing him intently, Sakura realized that Neji was correct. Even if she always tried to persuade herself that there was a chance that Sasuke might someday return her feelings, his behaviour proved her wrong. They were supposed to be team mates, yet they were more distant to each other than she was to Neji.

_A little late for all the things you didn't say_

_I'm not sad for you_

_But I'm sad for all the time I had to waste_

'_Cause I learned the truth_

_Your heart is in a place I no longer wanna be_

_I knew there'd come a day_

_I'd set you free_

'_Cause I'm sick and tired_

_Of always being sick and tired_

Sasuke had long ago decided about his life and it did not include loving anyone again. She should not let it bother her any more. Instead, she should be bothered about the fact that she wasted her time on him.

Somehow, maybe on an instinctual, subconscious level, she had known that it would come to this point. Her new friendship with Neji was kind of a catalyst for her to realize that it was high time to let go of her love for Sasuke and move on.

_Your love isn't fair_

_You live in a world where you didn't listen_

_And you didn't care_

_So I'm floating_

_Floating on air_

She did not doubt that in his own way, Sasuke cared for his friends and that she was one of them. He simply did not love her. For a long time, she had not been able to accept this and so she had been stuck without momentum, not developing in any way.

_No warning of such a sad song_

_Of broken hearts_

_My dreams of fairy tales and fantasies_

_Were torn apart_

_I lost my peace of mind_

_Somewhere along the way_

_I knew there'd come a time_

_You'd hear me say_

_I'm sick and tired_

_Of always being sick and tired_

Instead, she had allowed him to break her heart over and over again. She even lost her peace of mind in fighting with herself over him. But she had found her peace again, away from Sasuke.

She was sick and tired about wasting her life on him. Now was the time to move on, to improve her abilities as a Shinobi with Neji's help and have fun with her friends and maybe even another boy. After all, there were plenty of them!

Since she had already made up her mind, all that was left to do now was to open her mouth and tell him that she just wanted them to be friends and nothing more. Preferably quickly, for she had zoned out while Sasuke was getting quite impatient.

"Well, what is it? Do you want to talk or just stand there and stare at me? That's annoying."

"Uh, yes. Yes, I know. Sorry, Sasuke-kun. Actually, I just wanted to tell you that I've accepted that you'll never love me. And that's fine with me. Someone helped me to realize that my world doesn't revolve around you and that there are so many other things to concentrate on." Sakura smiled wryly as she watched Sasuke's incredulous expression.

"It's probably hard to believe, but I'd be glad if we could just become real friends, Sasuke."

"Aa." He did not know what to answer to her unexpected declaration.

"Yeah, well, I should be going now, I guess. See you." Before the situation could get any more awkward, Sakura hurried to get away from Sasuke. She ran into the direction Neji had disappeared to needing the comfort of his presence more than anything at the moment.

Sasuke stared after her wondering slightly what role the Hyuga played in all of this.

As soon as Sakura stormed out into the open training area, she spotted Neji. When she had run to him, it had dawned on her what she had just done. She had told Sasuke that she would move on. It felt like she had broken up a relationship they never had.

Being at the verge of tears, Sakura did not stop when she saw Neji's concerned face, but threw her arms around him hugging him as tight as she could and burying her face in his chest.

Overcoming his initial surprise, he returned the hug and rubbed her back in soothing cycles.

They stayed like this for what seemed to be an eternity with Sakura crying silently onto his chest while he rested his chin on her head.

Finally, Sakura calmed down again and let go of him. She took a step back and wiped the last tears from her eyes.

"I really did it... Thank you, Neji, for being there for me." She smiled slightly at him before she took his bandaged right hand into her left.

"And now it's time that we try to get you out of your cage!"

_My love is on the line _

_My love... _

_--_

End

* * *

This story will only consist of one chapter, but I know that there is still much left to tell. If you like the story so far, be assured that I have every intention of writing a sequel to this.

Leave me a review please, it'll definitely motivate me to hurry up!


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